Prime Minister Tony Abbott says many Holden workers will be "liberated" by the loss of their jobs at the carmaker.

Mr Abbott has announced plans for a $100 million fund to help create jobs in the states affected by the closure of Holden in Australia.

The Labor Government in South Australia has already slammed the package as "manifestly inadequate" and "insulting", and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has accused the PM of treating workers with "absolute contempt".

Holden announced last week that it would stop making cars in Australia by 2017 due to a "perfect storm" of poor economic conditions.

Its decision will put 2,900 people out of work - 1,600 from the manufacturing plant in South Australia and 1,300 in Victoria.

Mr Abbott has conceded that some workers will have difficulty finding new jobs.

"Some of them will find it difficult, but many of them will probably be liberated to pursue new opportunities and to get on with their lives," he said.

"We have to accept that what was right for people 10 years ago or 20 years ago is not necessarily going to be right or possible for them far into the future, and we do have to be prepared to adapt - individually and collectively."

More than half of money will come from Commonwealth, Holden to be asked for $20m

Of today's package, $60 million will come from federal coffers, with an additional $12 million from Victoria.

"The Federal Government's response to the closure of Holden is pathetic," he said.

"It demonstrates that the Federal Government does not understand the enormity of the issue, the urgency of the issue and worst of all they expressed little or no empathy for Holden's workers and their families."

He said South Australia would be contributing far more than asked - close to $50 million - to help workers and manufacturing in the state, but would not commit to putting it into the federal fund.

"We have $50 million of our own that we'll be contributing to this exercise," he said.

"But the idea of the paltry sum that's been put on the table by the Commonwealth going anywhere near the needs of South Australia and those workers and their family is frankly insulting."

Mr Weatherill said the Commonwealth should quarantine money previously earmarked to support Holden from the Automotive Transformation Scheme - worth $1 billion between 2016 and 2020 - and another $215 million that had been allocated for co-investment with the company.

Victoria's Liberal Premier Denis Napthine says the package is "a good first step" but he is expecting more money from the Commonwealth as a result of the review into his state's economy.

"I would fully expect as Premier of Victoria that as those reviews are undertaken and report that they are accompanied by significant investment from the Federal Government in creating those new job opportunities," he said.

A Holden spokesman said the company welcomed the announcement and would "be in discussions with all governments ... over our involvement in this package and our contribution to it."

Fund to support manufacturers, research

The Government says the fund will kick in next financial year and will provide support for car parts manufacturers to find new customers, for research that leads to new products or processes in the sector, and for existing manufacturers that expand in SA or Victoria.

The Prime Minister has also announced reviews of the SA and Victorian economies and says he will chair a federal government taskforce to develop ways to build industry in Australia, to make recommendations to Cabinet by June.